McHenry County social services agencies to merge

Three McHenry County social service agencies announced plans to merge Friday.

The McHenry-based Pioneer Center for Human Services, the McHenry County Youth Service Bureau of Woodstock and Cary's Children's Center for Autism will join forces July 1.

Pioneer Center officials say the merger, which is expected to save $100,000 a year over the next decade, aims to provide streamlined services at a time when social services have been hit hard by the state's budget crisis.

Lorraine Kopczynski, president and chief executive officer of Pioneer Center noted that the three agencies are bound by a "common sense of community commitment to children and families who have needs that were not being met."

Pioneer was founded in 1958 by a group of people who wanted a better life for their children with disabilities. Today, it provides services to more than 1,800 people each year.

The Youth Service Bureau, founded in 1975, offers counseling and mentoring for youth in crisis. About 800 children each year are served in agency treatment and case management programs; another 5,000 to 7,000 are served in community and school-based prevention programs.

The Children's Center for Autism, based in Cary for 10 years, provides autism information, resources, agency linkage as well as a group home, Sage House, for children 6 to 21 years old diagnosed with severe autism.

Together, the three agencies have approximately $16 million in assets.